Franchise Information Package · Rising For People Coffee Co.
Rooted in Impact
Franchise Information Package
A founding-territory opportunity to own a women + veteran-owned specialty coffee café with a verifiable mission and a recurring-revenue membership model.
Prepared for
Qualified Operators
Prepared by
Sky Jones, CEO · Jesse Abshire, CFO
Published
2026 Edition
01 · The Opportunity
A specialty café brand built for the operator who wants meaning and margin.
Specialty coffee is a $30B+ category growing 7% annually. The drive-thru wave (Scooter's, 7 Brew, Dutch Bros) has proven there's a multi-million-dollar AUV ceiling — but it's also crowded, undifferentiated, and racing to the bottom on price. Rising For People is positioned in the opposite direction: sit-down, premium, mission-led, with recurring-revenue membership built in from day one.
12,700+
Mangroves planted via Ecodrive
1 per bag order
6
Direct-trade origins
Named producers, recurring orders
52
Reno nonprofit partners committed
15% of profits, every week
100%
Electric, on-demand roasting
Bellwether — zero idle burn
Women + Veteran
Owned and operated
Both founders in the building
B Corp
In pursuit
Targeting 2026 certification
02 · The Founders
You'll know us by name.
Rising For People was founded by two operators who still answer their own phones. When you franchise with us, you're not in a queue. You're working directly with the people who built the brand.
Founder · CEO
Sky Jones
Built Rising For People from a popup cart to a Midtown Reno flagship and national subscription program. Runs operations, brand, and origin sourcing. Has personally met every farm partner. The mission, in her words: "every cup of coffee is a chance to feed a farmer fairly, plant a tree, and fund a local nonprofit."
CFO
Jesse Abshire
U.S. military veteran. Runs financials, vendor relationships, and franchise development. Signs every wire to producers personally. Underwrites every café location and shares the same models with franchisees. The numbers guy who also pours coffee on Saturday.
"We didn't build Rising to franchise it for the fees. We built it because every cup of coffee is a chance to feed a farmer fairly, plant a tree, and fund a local nonprofit. We're franchising because we want that to scale — through operators who get it."
— Sky Jones, Founder + CEO
03 · The Model
A sit-down specialty café with three layered revenue streams.
1 · Café operations
Specialty drinks, pastries, food, and retail merchandise. The flagship daypart: morning rush + lunch + weekend social. Pour-over bar + espresso program + cold drinks.
2 · Retail + roastery
On-premise Bellwether electric roaster turns out fresh whole-bean retail bags daily. Sold in-café, online via Shopify, and wholesale to local accounts within your territory.
3 · Membership (Rising Society)
Recurring monthly memberships ($24–$499/yr) deliver predictable revenue at 25%+ margin uplift. Members visit more often, buy more retail, and refer friends. The compounding moat.
04 · Investment Overview
What it takes to open.
Ranges below reflect typical specialty café build-outs. Specific market-level figures are disclosed in our Franchise Disclosure Document during the discovery process.
| Cost category | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $35k–$50k | One-time per unit. Founding-territory discount available. |
| Buildout + equipment | $180k–$425k | Varies by location, square footage, lease condition. |
| Bellwether electric roaster (optional) | $45k–$75k | Lease or purchase. Lets you roast on-site. |
| Initial inventory + supplies | $15k–$25k | Opening coffee, retail bags, syrups, dairy, paper. |
| Pre-opening marketing | $10k–$20k | Local launch playbook, social, paid + earned media. |
| Working capital (3 months) | $50k–$90k | Payroll, rent, utilities through ramp. |
| TOTAL estimated initial investment | $335k–$685k | Specific to your market + format. |
| Ongoing royalty | 6% of gross sales | Reinvested into product, training, brand. |
| Brand fund contribution | 2% of gross sales | National + regional marketing pool. |
This information is not a franchise offering. A franchise offering can be made only in a state if Rising For People Coffee Co. is first registered, excluded, exempted, or otherwise qualified to offer franchises in that state, and only with an FDD provided in compliance with applicable law.
05 · Scenario Projections
Three planning cases.
Scenario modeling derived from publicly disclosed industry comparables, NCA/IBISWorld benchmarks, and our internal unit-economics framework. Use as planning ranges, not as guaranteed outcomes. Specific Rising For People performance representations are governed by our FDD.
| Scenario | Annual revenue | Sales / sq ft | EBITDA margin | EBITDA | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $720,000 | $320 | 12% | $86,400 | 24 months |
| Moderate ⭐ (plan to this) | $920,000 | $420 | 17% | $156,400 | 21 months |
| Aggressive | $1,270,000 | $550 | 20% | $254,000 | 18 months |
Recommended planning case: Moderate scenario — $920K AUV / 17% EBITDA. Underwrite financing to this case; treat aggressive as upside, conservative as downside protection.
06 · Unit Economics
The operating math.
Quartile breakdowns aggregated from specialty café industry benchmarks. These are the levers that decide whether your unit hits moderate, aggressive, or under-performs.
| Metric | Top quartile | Top 50% | Industry average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily transactions | 650 | 450 | 320 |
| Average ticket | $5.35 | $5.60 | $6.15 |
| Labor cost % | 28% | 32% | 35% |
| COGS % | 28% | 30% | 32% |
| PRIME COST (labor + COGS) | 56% | 61% | 67% |
Why prime cost matters
Hit 61% prime cost or lower and your moderate-case EBITDA holds. Drift to 67% and margins compress fast. Training, scheduling discipline, and supplier consistency are how operators stay top-half.
Where Rising membership shifts the math
Rising Society members visit ~3x more often than non-members and skew higher-ticket. Every paid member is recurring revenue with predictable COGS — the moat that lets sit-down compete with drive-thru on margin.
07 · Industry Benchmarks
Where specialty coffee is winning.
The following are publicly disclosed industry comparables from competitor FDDs (Item 19), 10-K filings, and analyst reports — provided as market context. These are not earnings claims for Rising For People Coffee Co.; all performance representations for RFP are governed by our FDD.
| Brand | Format | Median AUV | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scooter's Coffee | Drive-thru kiosk | ~$835k | 2024 FDD, Item 19 |
| 7 Brew Coffee | Drive-thru stand | ~$1.7M | 2024 FDD, Item 19 |
| Dutch Bros (corporate) | Drive-thru café | ~$2.0M | Dutch Bros 2023 10-K |
| Black Rock Coffee | Drive-thru café | ~$1.3M | Industry analyst est. |
| Specialty café avg | Sit-down + retail | $650k–$1.1M | IBISWorld, NCA 2024 |
Why RFP is positioned distinctly
Sit-down specialty + retail + recurring membership is a different unit-economics profile than drive-thru. Higher ticket, higher LTV, lower transaction count — but the membership compounds.
Our margin moat
Membership revenue (Rising Society) at $24–$499/yr per subscriber turns variable, unpredictable traffic into a baseline you can underwrite against. That changes the operating math.
08 · What You Get
A turnkey system — built from running a real café.
Site selection + buildout playbook
Demographics, foot-traffic modeling, lease guidance, café-design package.
Coffee + product supply
Roasted-to-order green coffee, branded retail bags, cold brew, syrups, seasonal menu.
5-week pre-opening training
Barista craft, drink quality, service, operations, food safety, mission storytelling.
Marketing + brand systems
Local launch playbook, social templates, Klaviyo email flows, ads creative library.
Full technology stack
Toast POS, Shopify online ordering, Appstle memberships, Resend email, Vercel hosting.
Impact infrastructure
Ecodrive mangrove integration, 52 Weeks · 52 Change Makers framework, mission language.
09 · The Process
From application to grand opening in five steps.
- 01
Apply
Submit the franchise application at risingforpeoplecoffeeco.com/franchise. Reviewed personally within 5 business days.
- 02
Discovery call
30 minutes with Sky. Background, target market, mutual fit. No pressure, no script.
- 03
Mutual fit + FDD review
Operational + financial conversation. You receive our FDD for the legally required review period.
- 04
Discovery Day in Reno
Spend a day at the flagship. Meet the team, work a shift, walk the operation.
- 05
Award + buildout
Territory awarded, agreement signed, site selection begins. Typical timeline: 9–14 months to grand opening.
10 · The Next Step
Build a café that means something.
Founding territories are limited to the first 10 operators. We're prioritizing the Western U.S. for the first wave. If this sounds like the right fit, reach out — we read every email personally.
Contact
Sky Jones · Founder + CEO
info@risingforpeoplecoffeeco.com
risingforpeoplecoffeeco.com/franchise
121 Vesta St · Midtown Reno, NV 89502
This package is not a franchise offering. A franchise offering can be made only by Rising For People Coffee Co. in a state where it is first registered, excluded, exempted, or otherwise qualified to offer franchises, and only with the delivery of a Franchise Disclosure Document. All performance information, royalty rates, and investment specifics for Rising For People Coffee Co. are contained in our FDD.